


Looks Like Magic

by Kavute



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Background Clary Fray/Jace Wayland, Background Simon Lewis/Isabelle Lightwood, Detective Alec Lightwood, Developing Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Kinda, M/M, Mundane Alec Lightwood, Warlock Magnus Bane, detective boyfriends, not very graphic descriptions of crime scenes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-11 13:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11715057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kavute/pseuds/Kavute
Summary: When detective Alec Lightwood gets a case involving magic, he has no other choice but to ask Magnus Bane for help.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same universe and a few years prior to "School Visit" so you can probably guess that this story is gonna get a happy ending~
> 
>  
> 
> There some descriptions of crime scenes and bodies but I don't think that they're too graphic.
> 
>  
> 
> Enjoy~

Alec was exhausted. He and Jace had followed a lead and made successful arrest earlier that day. Interrogation wasn’t that difficult either – culprit confessed almost immediately. But the paperwork – _oh the paperwork!_ – it truly was the bane of his existence. He glanced at the clock and it was almost the end of his day, he only needed to sign a few statements and he was done. Free to go home, collapse into his bed and surrender to sleep, maybe he would even read a few chapters before actually sleeping. That would be nice.

 

But of course it was too good to be true, just as he was about to get ready to leave he received a call, informing about a new case. Alec had no other choice but to collect his things (which included a very sleepy and grumpy Jace) and leave for the crime scene.

 

Once they arrived they were welcomed with a brutal scene. A blonde girl lay on the ground in a dirty alleyway. Her hair a mess, lipstick smudged, dress torn apart. But what truly captured Alec’s attention were her eyes. They looked as if they were burned.  She was young, in her early twenties perhaps. Alec could practically see her having the time of her life having fun with her friends, laughing and dancing. But not anymore. Someone took away that from her. And Alec is going to find them and make sure that they pay.

 

Alec looked around the crime scene. There were strange scorch marks on the ground. Even though the body itself was not burned except for the eyes. And the air was filled with the stench of sulfur. Alec did not like the look of it one bit.

 

“Looks like magic.” Jace said and Alec was thinking the same thing.

 

“Unfortunately” he replied. Alec despised working with downworlders. It was always too much work than it was worth. There were all those blurred lines and unspoken rules that every downworlder knew, but he wasn’t let on. Most of the time cases were brutal or just so weird that it was difficult to wrap his head around. And whenever a downworlder was involved the paperwork seemed to double in size. Not to mention how many of cases like that went unsolved. Downworlders would often deal with their criminals themselves. Only for one of their leaders or their envoys to appear and tell them that it was taken care of. Alec didn’t know what it meant exactly and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. Even Luke would do this sometimes. He trusted Luke, he was a good cop and an even better person. So he knew that whatever he did with werewolves who disobeyed the law was just. But he still couldn’t help disliking it, people weren’t supposed to take justice into their own hands like that.

 

Alec hoped that when Izzy arrived, she would tell them something more, maybe she could tell them that it wasn’t a warlock or a seelie that did this. Maybe it was just a deranged human with passion for fire.

 

“Honestly?” Izzy began “I have no idea what might have done this. I’ve never seen anything like that before. Maybe once I have her in the house I’ll be able to tell you more.” This was rare for Izzy. She was an amazing forensics pathologist. Despite her young age she was one of the best in the city and if she didn’t have a clue they were screwed. “It’s going to be fine, big brother. You’re going to find whoever did this and I’m going to help you however I can.” She said looking intensely into his eyes. She could always read him better than anyone else.

 

He smiled at her softly. “Thanks, Iz.” That’s why he loved his little sister so much.

 

 

 

Next morning when he arrived at the precinct his mood was sour and gloomy. Alec would always come first so it came to no surprise that Jace wasn’t there yet. He figured that he should get a head start and try to identify the victim. By the time Jace appeared he already had a name. Sarah Newman, 22, missing for 3 days. Her parents were still looking for her, not giving up hope. Alec was going to be the one to break the news.

 

Jace walked in with Sebastian in tow, who had two cups of to-go coffee in his hands. “Here, you look like you need it” he said placing one of the cups on Alec’s desk. “Jace told me about your new case. Sounds rough. Anything new?”

 

“Thanks. Well I got a name. Nothing too much.” He threw a file that contained everything Missing Persons had on Sarah on Jace’s desk. “Here. Read it.”

 

“Have you talked to Luke about calling in the experts?” Jace asked as he took the file.

 

“Not yet, I figured we better have a cause of death first.”

 

“Well, I better get back to my own cases. Good luck you two” Sebastian said as he turned and headed to his own desk.

 

They dug through the case files reading everything they could about Sarah: where she lived, what she studied, who were her friends, who was she last seen with, what she was doing before her disappearance, they read every interview with any possible witnesses, her friends and parents. Looking for any clues who could have a grudge against her. And finally it was time to get down to the morgue, Isabelle should have finished her examination by now.

 

Almost everyone in Lightwood family worked in the force. Robert and Maryse were one of the best back in their day. Now though they pursued more political careers, but they still expected their children to follow the same path as they did. Alec didn’t mind very much, he liked his job. Jace followed suit as well. Their parents weren’t very happy when Isabelle declared that she wanted to be a pathologist, but soon calmed down when they realized how amazing she was at it.

 

When Jace and Alec got to the morgue, Isabelle had just finished with their victim. She was taking off her latex gloves and looking them in the eye with an expression that promised nothing good. “It’s supernatural for sure.” She stated. “Or someone has come up with state of the art killing machines that could liquefy someone’s brain and burn the inside of their skulls at the same time.”

 

“What?” Jace exclaimed bewilderedly “what the hell are we dealing with?” he looked between his siblings trying to wrap his head around the situation.

 

“My guess is as good as anyone’s” Alec replied tiredly, his head already started pounding. He really hated dealing with downworlders. “What else you’ve got, Iz?”

 

So Isabelle told them that the wounds had no entry ways, and the eyes were an exit point, she found no evidence of struggle, and that the victim had died a few hours prior to finding the body. There’s no way he was going to solve this without help, he knew as little as everyone else about the downworld. They tended to keep their secrets to themselves. And so Alec found himself standing before chief’s door, gathering his thoughts of how to proceed.

 

“How long are going to stand there?” Luke must have heard him when Alec approached “come in already.” Alec did as he was told, and sat in front of Luke’s desk. “How can I help you?”

 

Alec told him about his newest case, the victim and her mysterious cause of death. “So I would like to call in Supernatural Department.” Alec said when he finished his report. Supernatural Department usually dealt with cases like this, many amongst them were downworlders themselves so they were much more suited for such work. They had more knowledge and skill in dealing with Downworld.

 

“And why would we do that, Alec? You’ve recently passed your level 1 detective exam, didn’t you? You have clearance to speak to Downworld leaders yourself. While Jace talks to the victim’s family you’ll go and talk to the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He should be able to help you out.” Luke responded leaving no room for disagreements.


	2. Chapter 2

Alec found himself standing in front an apartment door. _Magnus Bane_ was written in an elegant script on a nameplate near the door. Alec had heard this name before. His mother would sometimes mention him. Never in good terms though. She wasn’t fond of him, but then again Maryse Lightwood wasn’t fond of any downworlders. Not even Luke. They were good friends back in academy days, they worked together back when they both were still in uniforms. But their friendship changed dramatically after Luke was turned. Maryse often repeated that downworlders were not to be trusted.

 

And now Alec was here – standing in front of the door of the High Warlock of Brooklyn about to ask for his help. He gathered his wits and pressed the buzzer. Shortly the door was opened and Alec was greeted with a sight he was not expecting. In front of him stood beautiful woman with dark straight hair. Alec was sure that Magnus Bane was a man, but warlocks seemed to have strange names. She was piercing Alec with her gaze, obviously waiting for him to speak.

 

“Um.. I’m detective Alexander Lightwood from NYPD.”

 

“Oh, yes! Luke informed me that you’ll be arriving. I’m Dorothea.” She offered, her gaze softened a bit. “Please come in” She stepped aside letting him into the apartment. It was very spacious, beautifully decorated, the light falling through the window made everything look soft and hazy. It was so different from his own apartment. Where at his home there were so little color and all furniture were only there to serve its function, here on the other hand walls were covered with paintings, various décor objects scattered around, many plants all around the place and so many candles placed in bundles. Alec didn’t know if they had any magical properties or were there only to create atmosphere. But what truly brought Alec’s attention was the bookshelf. It was giant, covering entire wall and filled with hundreds of books. There were so many of them, some didn’t even fit on the shelves and were littered on the ground and various surfaces.

 

“Sorry about the mess. I was just going through the inventory” Dorothea interrupted his thoughts. And only then Alec noticed various jars and vials thrown on the table in the middle of the room. Some were empty, some had strange substances in them. Alec could have sworn that at least three of them had teeth. “Although it’s always a mess around here. I should get back to work. Magnus is in his office. Just go in, he already knows you’re here.” She pointed towards the door on the left side of the room and returned to the table to sort out through the rest of the jars.

 

Alec made his way towards the door and after a short consideration whether he should knock or not, he just let himself in quietly. Once he entered his eyes immediately landed on a man sitting on a sofa by the window, reading a book. When Alec saw him he was quickly reminded how very gay he was. He swallowed thickly. The man – Magnus – was simply gorgeous. His skin looked golden in rays of sunshine, his hair styled up with streaks of red, eyes rimmed in black, Alec was sure there were some glitter two. His ears were pierced and many piercing were glistening in the sun. He was wearing a loose blood red shirt that showed too much of his chest. Around his neck hanged no less than 5 necklaces of different styles. Alec lowered his gaze to Magnus’ hands, he was wearing many rings, each different and unique but not clashing with one another. On his lap between his hands was a book. By the looks of it a very old book. It seemed so fragile as if one wrong move and its pages would crumble to dust. But the man was holding with care, his fingers slowly grazing the spine of the book.

 

But his good looks weren’t the only thing that had rendered Alec immobile. There was a strange atmosphere in the room, some sort of authoritative aura surrounding the man. He was sitting gracefully, like a king, as if the entire world belonged to him. And Alec was reminded that this wasn’t just a man. This was a warlock a very powerful one at that. Alec felt small standing there and Alec never felt small.

 

“So you’re one of Luke’s kids?” Magnus asked without lifting his eyes, not sparing a single glance to Alec, voice deep but without any emotion, he sounded almost bored.

 

_Luke’s kids?_ Alec was a bit confused. Had Magnus thought that he was part of the pack? “Um.. No. I – I’m not in Luke’s pack.” Alec tried to keep his voice steady and failed miserably.

 

“Of course not and I didn’t say ‘pup’ now, did I?” And now that he thought about it. Luke was like a family member to him and not just him. Luke has treated everyone in the department as family. He really was like a father figure of sorts. Always there for them, always looking out, always having their back.

 

Magnus carefully closed the book which was soon covered in blue light and then disappeared completely. The warlock slowly raised his head and for the first time looked Alec straight in the eye. He suddenly stood up in such a gracious way that it seemed like he was almost floating. The atmosphere seemed to lighten just a bit.

 

“I’m Magnus. I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.” Magnus said as he stepped closer a small smile tugging at his lips.

 

Alec let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Alec.” He could feel a stupid grin spreading through his face but he couldn’t do anything to stop it.

 

“Short for Alexander?”  Magnus inquired as he turned around.

 

“Yeah” his voice came much less sure than he intended. Magnus walked over a stand with glasses and a bottle of whiskey. Maybe rum. Or maybe something else entirely Alec had no clue. “Would you like some?” Magnus lifted one glass towards Alec but retreated it quickly. “Oh sorry, you’re on duty.”

 

_Yes, duty._ Alec tried to focus. _You’re on duty goddamit._ He was scolding himself so intently in his own head that he almost didn’t hear Magnus mutter “maybe next time” under his breath.

 

“So what can I do for you, detective?”

 

“We have a murder case that might involve warlock or seelie magic, we’re not sure. I would like to ask for your assistance.” Alec was back into his work mode.

 

“Murder?”

 

“Yes, a 22-year-old female, found with burned out eyes, liquefied brain and scorched skull. We also found scorch marks around the body in the crime scene.” Alec felt sick even thinking about it all.

 

Magnus, on the other hand, seemed deep in thought. “There are quite a few spells that can leave scorch marks or burn.... things. But to my knowledge none of them behave in a way you described. I would like to have a look at the crime scene as well as the body before telling you more.”

 

Alec was slightly taken aback. “You’re going to help us? That easily?” he was pretty sure that warlocks demanded some sort of payment for their services.

 

“Why of course, Alexander, I couldn’t say no to those beautiful eyes.” A small smile danced around his lips. “I also had signed a contract of collaboration with NYPD a couple of decades ago. I wouldn’t want to break my word.” Magnus flicked his hand with flourish and a whirlpool of strange energy and light appeared by the door. Alec could the breeze coming through it.

 

“Shall we?”


End file.
